May 2, 2006
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#18 BAYLOR (36-17, 12-5) HOSTS #2 TEXAS (48-5, 14-2)
MAY 3, 2006 - 6:30 PM
GETTERMAN STADIUM
WACO, TEXAS
THE SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3
Texas at Baylor, 6:30 p.m.
THE SERIES
TEXAS LEADS 13-5
Waco: Texas leads 5-2
Austin, Texas: Texas leads 8-2
Neutral: Baylor leads 1-0
Since 1996: Texas leads 12-5
Current Streak: Texas won 2
Baylor W-L Last 10: 4-6
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: KRZI 1580-AM
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Video: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
Winners of eight in a row and having established a new school record for most conference wins in a season, the No. 18 Baylor softball team closes out the regular season when the Lady Bears host No. 2 Texas for a single game on Wednesday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m. The home finale marks the second time the teams will meet this season after Texas captured a 2-1 victory over the Lady Bears on March 29.
Baylor enters the regular season finale with hopes of claiming second-place in the Big 12 Conference standings. The Lady Bears can finish second in the conference race with a win and at least one Nebraska loss in the Huskers two-game series against Missouri this weekend. In addition, Baylor could claim the two-seed with a loss and two Missouri wins.
Texas enters the finale as the Big 12 Conference regular season champions after clinching the league crown with a weekend sweep of Oklahoma State. The Longhorns enter the contest winners of 9-of-10 as Texas looks to gain momentum heading into next week's Big 12 Conference Championships.
Last season in Waco, Tessa Lynam's two-run single lifted the Lady Bears to a 2-0 win over the Longhorns; however, Texas has won the last two in the series an owns a 13-5 record all-time against the Lady Bears.
SCOUTING TEXAS (48-5, 14-2)
The Longhorns enter the contest as one of the top teams in the country as Texas has clinched the Big 12 Conference regular-season title and enters the game with a number two ranking.
Texas is led by All-American pitcher Cat Osterman. The left-hander broke the NCAA career strikeout mark this season and leads the Longhorns with a 32-1 record and 0.28 ERA.
Should Osterman not get the start, Texas has No. 2 pitcher Meghan Denny to send to the circle. Denny has compiled a 15-4 record and 1.56 ERA in 138.2 innings of work for the Longhorns.
At the plate, Texas is led by Desiree Williams who leads the team with a .354 batting average, 11 home runs and 38 RBI.
Baylor has won 4-of-6 in the series; however, Texas leads the all-time series with the Lady Bears 13-5.
LADY BEARS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CLUTCH HITTING
With a 36-17 record on the season, the Baylor softball team has taken advantage of clutch hitting in key situation as high percentage of the Lady Bears' runs have come with two outs in the inning. Of the 277 runs scored by Baylor so far this season, 99 (36 percent) have come on two-out RBI hits.
Freshman Brette Reagan leads the team with 22 RBI with two outs as the tandem is currently leading a Baylor team that is hitting .286 (124-of-433) on the year with two outs while opponents are only hitting .221 (97-of-438) in the same situation.
Kelly Osburn ACCOMPLISHES BIG 12 FIRST
With a walk against Nebraska, senior outfielder Kelly Osburn became the first player in Big 12 history to surpass 200 hits, 150 runs scored, 30 home runs, 40 doubles, 100 RBI, 100 walks and 75 stolen bases for her career.
For her career, the senior has posted 219 hits, 159 runs scored, 36 home runs, 43 doubles, 104 RBI, 104 walks and 77 stolen bases as she helped lead Baylor to consecutive NCAA Softball Championship appearances. A two-time all-Big 12 Conference selection, Osburn is Baylor's career leader in five categories.
SCHWETHELM REACHES 200 CAREER HITS
With four hits in the double-header sweep of Texas State, Baylor outfielder Harmony Schwethelm became only the fifth player in school history to reach the 200-hit plateau for her career. Schwethelm has pushed her career total to 229 after collecting a hit in the series sweep of Iowa State.
Schwethelm ranks second on Baylor's career hits list and is now 18 hits shy of breaking the Baylor career record of 247 held by Naomi Fitzgerald (1998-2001).
Senior Kelly Osburn also joined Schwethelm in the 200-hit club after collecting five in the sweep of Sam Houston State. The senior left fielder now has 219 for her career.
SCHWETHELM BREAKS CAREER STOLEN BASE RECORD
With a steal of second in the 6-5 win over No. 13 Washington, Harmony Schwethelm became Baylor's career stolen base leader, surpassing Kim Wilmoth (91, 2002-05) with 92 in her career. For her career, Schwethelm now has 96 stolen bases in 111 attempts as the senior closes in on 100 stolen bases for her career.
Schwethelm, who has only been caught stealing 15 times in her career, has a stolen base percentage of .865 to rank second on the Baylor career charts.
CHELSI LAKE BREAKS CAREER RBI MARK
With a RBI single to make the score 6-4 against No. 13 Washington, junior Chelsi Lake recorded the 102nd of her career as she became Baylor's career leader in the category, surpassing Sarah Caudle who drove in 101 runs from 2000-2003.
Earlier in the year, Lake became only the second player in school history to pass the career 100-RBI club as the junior will shatter the previous career record. Heading into this week, Lake has recorded 130 RBI during her two-plus year career.
Senior Kelly Osburn recently became the third player in school history to surpass the 100-RBI plateau as the outfielder has reached 105 RBI for her career.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
After going a perfect 3-0 this past week, the Lady Bears are ranked No. 18 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll released Tuesday. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 18 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
Baylor is one of five Big 12 Conference schools ranked in the current polls as Texas (No. 2 ESPN.com/No. 2 USA Today), Texas A&M (No. 15, No. 17), Oklahoma (No. 23, No. 22) and Nebraska (No. 15, No.16) join Baylor in the rankings.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 38th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 38th consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25. The last time Baylor failed to appear in either poll was March 16, 2004.
Chelsi Lake SETS SINGLE SEASON HOME RUN MARK
With a pair of home runs in the series split against Nebraska, junior Chelsi Lake broke the Baylor, single-season home run mark as the catcher blasted her 15th and 16th home runs of the season. Lake broke the record she had set last year after hitting 15 round-trippers during the 2005 campaign.
Lake, who ranks second on the career list with 32 home runs, is only five home runs shy of teammate Kelly Osburn (36) from establishing a new career mark.
BAYLOR SETS SINGLE SEASON HOME RUN MARK
After blasting 57 home runs a year ago to set a school record, the Baylor softball team would need a significant power surge in order to break the mark this season. However, behind the power of four players with at least 10 home runs, Baylor has established a new single-season school record with 62 home runs so far this season.
Chelsi Lake leads the way with 16 home runs as Brette Reagan currently ranks second with 13 round-trippers. Tessa Lynam and Kelly Osburn each have recorded 12 home runs on the year as Baylor leads the Big 12 Conference in the category.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Several Lady Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the career charts in 2006. Below is a list of Lady Bears who currently rank in the top ten in one of the career categories:
BATTING RECORDS
RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 159); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 133); Tessa Lynam (10th, 80)
HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 229); Kelly Osburn 5th, 219); Chelsi Lake (8th, 164)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 62); Kelly Osburn (6th, 52); Chelsi Lake (7th, 39)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 43); Chelsi Lake (3rd, 36); Tessa Lynam (t-7th, 26)
TRIPLES: Harmony Schwethelm (t-1st, 9); Kelly Osburn (t-5th, 7); Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 36); Chelsi Lake (2nd, 32); Tessa Lynam (3rd, 26)
RBI: Chelsi Lake (1st, 130); Kelly Osburn (2nd, 105); Tessa Lynam (5th, 92)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 384); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 272); Chelsi Lake (3rd, 304)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 104)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 23); Kylie Conroy (6th, 11)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Kelly Osburn (t-8th; 3); Chelsi Lake (t-6th, 4); Tessa Lynam (t-8th, 3)
SACRIFICE HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 25)
STOLEN BASES: Harmony Schwethelm (1st, 96); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 77)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 111); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 94)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 121); Tessa Lynam (8th, 40); Nicole Jackson (10th, 29)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 82); Tessa Lynam (8th, 14)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 39); Tessa Lynam (5th, 26); Nicole Jackson (5th, 26)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 54); Tessa Lynam (8th, 15)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 25); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 4)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 79); Tessa Lynam (8th, 19)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 42); Tessa Lynam (10th, 4)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 20); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 1)
SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 15); Tessa Lynam (t-5th, 4); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 1); Sarah Hausner (t-8th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 538.0); Tessa Lynam (8th, 115.2)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 381); Tessa Lynam (8th, 102)
Kelly Osburn BREAKS TRIO OF CAREER RECORDS
With her solo home run to lead-off the game against Houston, Baylor senior Kelly Osburn pushed her career runs scored total to 129, breaking Michelle Sorrels (1996-99) career record of 128 runs scored. In three-plus seasons as a Lady Bear, Osburn has now scored 156 runs.
In addition, in the 7-0 win over Missouri, Osburn hit two doubles to push her career total to 39, breaking the career record of 38 previously held by Sarah Caudle (2000-2003).
The records are just one of several where Osburn will hold the career lead once her career is over. Already Baylor's career leader in home runs (36), walks (104), runs scored (160), total bases (384) and doubles (43), Osburn ranks fourth in triples (7) and third in stolen bases (77).
UP NEXT...
Baylor moves into post-season play as the Lady Bears will play as the number two seed at the Big 12 Conference Championships on Wednesday, May 10, or Thursday, May 11.
